DL trip report 2/23-2/27/08

[doombuggy]

2/23/08: My day started out very early, at 3am in fact. I got up to go to the airport for my 6:30am flight. I arrived at SNA (John Wayne airport) via Houston around lunchtime and took the Disneyland Express to the Grand Californian Hotel. I checked into my standard view room and had a lovely view of the courtyard and the monorail.

Unfortunately, I got the call that my grandmother had passed away early in the morning, so I was on the phone (sadly) for part of the afternoon. I did head for Downtown Disney for some shopping, as I had not planned on going to the parks that day. I grabbed some dinner from White Water Snacks (at the hotel) and fell asleep pretty early.

 

[doombuggy]

2/24/08: I was up at 4:15am (remember, I went to bed early the night before – lol) and got ready for Magic Mornings at DL, which was at 7am. It was raining, so it was not very crowded. I headed straight for Nemo, and got on the 2nd sub. What a nice reworking of that attraction! The toddler sitting beside me loved the bubbles in the window. Because of the light rain, I was able to get on many attractions without a wait: Space Mtn and Buzz in Tomorrowland; Matterhorn, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, Pinocchio and Snow White in Fantasyland; Big Thunder in Frontierland; Pirates & the Haunted Mansion in New Orleans Sq; and believe it or not, Splash Mtn (and also Pooh) in Critter Country. I am not into log flume rides anymore, but I figured since I already was wearing my poncho, I might as well go on. I had the log to myself, and ended up buying the photo just for fun. I headed back thru Adventureland to hop on Indy, then to Main St to New Century Timepieces to pick up a watch I had preordered. I ducked in to see the show at the end of Main St, which is still the 50th anniversary show with Steve Martin & Donald Duck. I lost my umbrella somewhere along the way, so I had to buy a new one, just in case. By then it had stopped raining, so I headed back to the hotel for some lunch and to rest. I must give 2 thumbs up to the nachos at White Water Snacks. They were very good! Mom called just as I was nodding off, checking up on me because she knew how upset I was about my grama. Since I couldn’t nap, I went over to DCA to see the Aladdin show – that was absolutely fabulous! This is a do not miss show! After the show I went to DTD for dinner and back to the room for a nap. I was scheduled to meet some friends at 11:30pm for the last ride thru the Haunted Mansion. The park closed at midnight, but it was closer to 12:30 by the time we strolled out of there.

 

[doombuggy]

2/25/08: The parks opened at 10am, so I took my time getting ready for the day. I stopped off in DTD to pick up the materials I needed for the special event I was attending that night at the Blue Bayou. Then I headed over to DCA for the Disney visa character meet & greet. I had my picture taken with Goofy and Mickey in their “travel wear” and picked up my free photo later. I was going around the park hitting up every photopass photographer I saw. It was my intention to buy the photo cd (which I did). After the meet & greet, I headed over to California Screamin’, the Golden Zepher and the Sun Wheel. I took a couple of photos while sitting in a non-swinging bucket.

I proceeded to the Animation Gallery to see the Snow White 70th anniversary presentation and to check out the Beast’s Library. He thinks I am most like the Wicked Queen….I rode Monster’s Inc and then had some lunch before heading over to Disneyland. After more photopass pictures, I went over to POTC to cool off, Haunted Mansion and then the Pirates Lair to see the Bootstrapers. They were great and very entertaining. Afterwards, I returned to my room to get ready for the Haunted Mansion event. We assembled in front of the Blue Bayou for dinner around 6:30p. The group of us (about 130 people) went in to be seated around 7p. Amongst the guests were Disney legends Harriet Burns, Bob Gurr, X Atencio, and Blaine Gibson.

Also in attendance was John Smith, from Randotti ~ one of our “parting gifts” was a reproduction of an original Randotti souvenir tombstone sold in Disneyland “back in the day.” We had a wonderful meal and this great desert.

There was a 30 minute question and answer session with the Disney legends before we headed over to the Haunted Mansion for the ride thru at 9pm (the park closed at 8). Waiting for us in front of the hearse were the hitchhiking ghosts! After the ride thru, and on my way out, I took this photo of a practically deserted Main St. then back to the hotel after collecting the rest of the event goodies. It was getting quite chilly!

 

[doombuggy]

2/26/08: I was up again for Magic Mornings, at 9am this time. It was sunny & hot, and the lines to get in were very long (back to the California sign in front of DCA). I rode some of the attractions that I missed on Sunday, such as Alice in Wonderland and Roger Rabbit. I headed out around 10:30am to pick up my car and run some errands off site. I returned for lunch and a quick trip to the hotel’s Business Center to have my purchases shipped. I then took a leisurely ride on the monorail to Tomorrowland and hit a few more attractions around the park.

I made my photopass CD (tip: same card work in DL and WDW, so the shots I had taken at the MK in WDW in early February are on my CD). I had dinner in Froniterland at the Rancho del Zocalo, but it wasn’t very good. It was my plan to stay to see the 7pm parade, but once the sun went down, the 83 degree temps went with it. I went back to my room to pack for the flight home.

 

[doombuggy]

2/27/08: I was up before 7am and headed down to White Water Snacks for a leisurely breakfast. The French toast sticks were yummy! Someone had removed the “privacy” sign from my door in the night, so housekeeping came at bit early (around 8am) before I was ready to check out. I soon left for the airport thru these lovely doors, ready to return to Orlando but hoping to come back soon….

Note: I am having a problem getting this photo to appear correctly. It is rotated in my photobucket account, but doesn't tranfer correctly. The door is too beautiful to skip, however....turn your head to the left.

 

[LoveDopey]

OMG -- I'm in one of your pictures. I feel like a celebrity!!!

 

[Yakety76]

We were there in the rain with you on Sunday. It was amazing for us to arrive and have the park to ourselves- or so it felt.

 

[doombuggy]

Here are some photos of the room I had at the GCH:

Loved the TV!